BENTONVILLE — The most significant part of Friday night’s game between Bentonville and Fort Smith Northside was perhaps the coin toss.
Bentonville won the toss and deferred its choice until the second half. So when the Tigers threw the final punch in a first-half slugfest and took a 40-34 lead into the locker room, they knew they had a chance to seize momentum once play resumed.
Bentonville did just that. The Tigers ran off 29 unanswered points and forced the mercy rule to be invoked for the final eight minutes and settled for a 69-41 7A-West Conference shootout over the Grizzlies in Tiger Stadium.
“You like to have that choice on the coin toss,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “That way, you can make some adjustments and corrections. To score near the end of the first half, then come back with a touchdown to start the second half, that proved to be a big series.”
Bentonville (8-0, 5-0 7A-West) needed only six plays to put Northside on the ropes. Sophomore Garrett Kaufman — who sat out last week’s game against Rogers and saw limited action in the previous two games — scored the second of his three touchdowns on a five-yard run, and Dallas Hardison’s two-point conversion pass to Drew Edwards made it a 48-34 game with 9 minutes, 51 seconds left in the third quarter.
Northside (1-7, 0-5) didn’t help its cause at all as its quick-play offense came to a halt. The Grizzlies turned the ball over twice on their next four possessions and turned the ball over on downs on a third after Bentonville defensive end Sean Miller sacked quarterback Tanner Knight for a three-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 play at the Tigers 44.
“When we started having those turnovers, we just lost momentum,” Northside coach Darrell Henry said. “I was proud of our kids. We went out there and played hard against an undefeated team.
“We just need to get over things when something bad happens instead of waiting for something else bad to happen. We’re a young team and we’ll get there.”
Knight completed 32 of 49 passes for 448 yards in the game and added 57 more yards on the ground, but Bentonville was able to capitalize on his few mistakes. After Miller’s sack gave Bentonville the ball, the Tigers scored nine plays later, with Kaufman running the final six yards for the touchdown.
Three plays later, Chris Scroggins made his second interception in as many plays, picking off Knight and giving Bentonville the ball on the Northside 27. It led to Hardison’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Austin Molitor, and Chad Levin’s extra point kick made it a 62-34 game with 58 seconds left in the third.
“I thought our kids played with a lot more resolve in the second half defensively,” Lunney said. “Knight is a fine quarterback, and coach Henry is doing a great job with that offense over there.”
Demarcus Murphy’s 18-yard touchdown run forced the mercy rule to be invoked for the final 8:03.
Hardison finished completing 14 of 20 passes for 331 yards, including his 12-yard touchdown pass to Bo Weber to give Bentonville its 40-34 lead with 50 seconds left in the first half. Kaufman and Tearris Wallace added to the Tigers’ attack with 114 and 110 yards rushing, respectively.
Bentonville hits the road for its final two 7A-West Conference games, starting next week with a game against Springdale High.
7A-West Conference
BENTONVILLE 69, FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 41
FS Northside 24 10 0 7 — 41
Bentonville 20 20 22 7 — 69
First Quarter
North — Jones 1 run (Martinez kick), 9:48
Bent — Smith 18 pass from Hardison (Levin kick), 8:53
North — FG Martinez 39, 7:43
Bent — Snow 52 pass from Hardison (Levin kick), 6:44
North — Knight 6 run (Martinez kick), 4:19
Bent — Hardison 1 run (kick failed), 2:06
North — Jones 12 pass from Knight (Martinez kick), 0:03
Second Quarter
Bent — Hardison 1 run (Levin kick), 10:47
North — FG Martinez 29, 6:00
Bent — Kaufmann 4 run (Levin kick), 3:52
North — Townsell 78 pass from Knight (Martinez kick), 3:38
Bent — Weber 12 pass from Hardison (kick fail), 0:50
Third Quarter
Bent — Kaufman 5 run (Edwards pass from Hardison), 9:51
Bent — Kaufman 6 run (Levin kick), 3:53
Bent — Molitor 16 pass from Hardison (Levin kick), 0:58
Fourth Quarter
Bent — Murphy 18 run (Levin kick), 8:08
North — Thurman 19 pass from Knight (Martinez kick), 2:33
Gamebreaker
Bentonville 69
Fort Smith Northside 41
Why the Tigers won
Dallas Hardison’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Bo Weber gave Bentonville the last punch in a 40-34 slugfest, then the Tigers pulled away with 29 unanswered points in the second half to force the mercy rule.
Why the Grizzlies lost
Fort Smith Northside could not its high-powered offense going in the second half. The Grizzlies first four second-half possessions resulted in a fumble, a turnover on downs, an interception and a punt.